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"mandarins are a most popular food for christmas time in russia - our grandparents even had this tradition. of course there are lot of other dishes but somehow mandarins and their fragrance is a kind of symbol of the new year holidays…such a bright colored fruit full of vitamins." - eu. is it june already? not here it ain’t! it’s new year’s eve at the deli and eu is in the house, so put your melons in the air and shake ‘em like you just don’t care! ooops, wrong fruit group. it don’t matter though, ‘cos everyone at delikatessen is partying like it’s 1999 after learning the next 10-inch plate is none other than those citrus-lovin’ fools eu! ripe with vintage synth juice that’s sticky-sweet and healthy to boot, eu’s mandarines unloads four zesty tracks that’ll jack your body and your immune system at the same time. just check the mysterioso synth vibe of “blizzard” on the a1, a blend of frigid atmospheric treatments and funky bass groove that’s strikingly warm despite its chilly name. “ruw” peels off that synth skin into beat rinds that positively pop with digital energy, while charming theremin sounds buzz around overhead like happy fireflies on a summer’s eve. flip eu’s plate over and things get a little crisp with “snowstorm,” a gentle, cool digital beat wrapped up in a mist of long tone strokes that will surely appeal to fans of early autechre and the black dog, not to mention fans of another delikatessen artist, funckarma, and their brilliant plate bourbon sounds. last but certainly not least is “frost,” a meditative, somber track that reaches through a smooth ambient landscape, organically extending minimal sonic effects into a lush electro melody with lots of dramatic tang. so join in the celebration with everyone at delikatessen - grab eu’s mandarines and get your fruit on! about the chefs: eu’s alexander zaitsev and ilya baramiya hail from st. petersburg, russia - meaning they don’t see a lot of fruit trees in the flesh, but rest assured they’ve both downed enough mandarins in their day to be citrus experts. the duo began recording in 1997 as eu, which according to the boys is “just the first letters of our russian name…in russian it sounds like ‘yolochnye igrooshki,’ which means ‘christmas decoration,’ like bubbles of colored glass on christmas trees.” first were a few cassette releases in russia then their compilation appearance with fellow russian electronic artists solar x, novel 23, and fizzarum on artefacts, and their first cd, eu_soft, both on the famed art-tek label in moscow. soon england’s pause_2 caught wind of the duo’s fresh synth sound and next thing you know, their wienn/srez 7-inch was nme’s “single of the week.” of course, that wasn’t a big enough bowl of fruit for zaitsev and baramiya, who went on to release two albums on pause_2, 2000’s reframing and 2002’s warm math, as well as connecting with lo recordings to help assemble the highly respected ru.electronic compilation. delikatessen is proud to have such a fruitful connection with the talented eu.